Health Equity and Health Equality

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Assessment Criteria

The following assessment criteria will be used for marking. Your assignment should comply with the following criteria:

Uses an essay structure that includes an introduction, well-formed arguments and a conclusion

Clearly identifies the differences between equity and equality drawing on an example

Presents accurate and referenced definitions

Uses readings from the topic and beyond to support the argument being developed

Complies with academic standards of legibility, referencing and word length

Essay is clearly presented with accurate spelling, grammar, sentence and paragraph construction

Includes the students name and title of assignment in the document and the name of the doc or docx file.

Solution

HEALTH EQUITY AND HEALTH EQUALITY

Executive summary 

In this paper, health equity and health equality have been discussed. This paper is divided into three parts that are introduction regarding health equity and health equality, the difference between health equity and equality and finally, the conclusion has been mentioned at the end of this paper.

Introduction 

Health equity and health equality 
Equity is a really straightforward idea yet, for the most part, gets mistook with equality. Equality alone would mean each national or individual gets similar assets and procedures intended to keep them healthy and sound. Equity implies that equal chance or opportunity to stay healthy and is based on reasonableness or fairness, not equality or sameness (Braveman et al., 2003).
Health equity alludes to the investigation and reasons for contrasts in the nature of health and human services crosswise over various populaces. Health equity is unique in relation to health equality, as it alludes just to the nonattendance of incongruities in controllable or remediable parts of health.
Health equity refers to provide the same opportunity to every individual respective of caste, race, color, and gender. That is health equity state that every individual has right to stay fit and has equal right to get the proper health facilities. Whereas health equality refers to providing the equal opportunity to avail the health facility.    

Health equity 

Robert Wood pointed that health equity means that every individual has an equal opportunity and has a fair chance to stay healthier. Health equity implies that everybody has a reasonable and only chance to be as sound as could be allowed. This requires abandoning obstructions to wellbeing such as discrimination, neediness, separation, what's more, their results, counting frailty, what's more, absence of access to great occupations with reasonable pay, quality training and lodging, safe environments, and social insurance (Culyer et al., 1993). Health equity refers to an absence of the disparities in remediable or controllable aspects of the health.
Health equity implies that every individual has a fair opportunity to live healthy and long life. Health equity tells that health should not be disadvantaged or compromised because of the individual race, gender, population groups, income, or any other social condition.
Attaining the health equity as well as health equality is very important as it enables the society to be strong and will reduce the discrimination.
Robert Wood tells that in order to attain the health equity various obstacle should be removed. That is he pointed that health equity can only be achieved when certain obstacle should be removed like discrimination, poverty, and so on. In a way to attain the health equity safe environment, proper housing facilities and adequate health care facility is required. 

Differences between health equity and health equality

As indicated by the World Health Organization (WHO), such equity is "the nonappearance of remediable or avoidable contrasts among a group of individuals, regardless of whether those groups are characterized socially, financially, geographically or demographically.
Equity is the means to provide the equal opportunity to an individual to stay fit whereas equality is the final outcome or end result of health.
Example of health equity- as per the health equity everybody should be given fair and just chance to stay fit. Take an example of health care unit it uses to provide the health care services to all the patient treating them all equally, meanwhile it uses to focus more on the patient who requires immediate care or who deserve special care but the health care unit will not discriminate the patient on the basis of color, background, gender or any other social reason.
If a patient is suffering from cancer or any other severe diseases and dying out of pain then healthcare unit will give special care to that patient this is called a health equity that is treating all equally but giving more preferences to those who are in need of it.
Example of health equality- health equality means that every individual should get the same resources and processes designed to keep individual healthy. All the patient are treated equally regardless of their abilities their background. If the doctors or health care unit treated and sees the patient equally irrespective of the gender and its suffering then it can be said as health equality. According to health equality, it states that all should be treated as same and all the resources and services are to be provided to all in an equal manner (Ruger et al., 2004). No discrimination regarding sex, age, social background and any other racism.
In the book Just Health Care, Norman Daniels very well explained the concept of health equity as well as health equality. He mentioned that providing the equal opportunity regarding health care facility to every citizen is very important. On other hands, he also pointed out that giving a special consideration and special care to those who are in need of it such as a poor patient who is suffering for severe diseases and dying out of pain.
Law about the equality 
The Equality Act 2010 – this enactment gives security against segregation to individuals who have at least one of the nine particular ensured qualities. These are age, incapacity, marriage and common association, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion and conviction, sex, sex reassignment and sexual introduction.
The Care Act 2014 – this enactment gives six key standards which ought to support all work with vulnerable adults. This incorporates guaranteeing that adults receive support that is close to home to them, picked by them and has their assent.
Health equity and health equality play a vital role in health care unit. It ensures that health care services are been delivered in an optimal manner. If health organization ensures that it focuses on the health equity as well as focuses on the health equality then the patient will feel that the healthcare organization is delivering effective services (Whitehead, M. 1991). 
In a healthcare unit or environment, both equity and equality is very important. It will lead to providing the best and appropriate health care services to the individual. Equality and equity should be at the heart of the healthcare unit (Anand, S. 2002).
According to the Amartya Sen, health equality as well as health equity both is very important. As if a citizen is healthy then only he will contribute to the wealth of the nation and individual will be healthy only if the individual will get the equal opportunity regarding health care facility and if the system will allocate the health resources equitably.

Conclusion 

In the end, it can be concluded that health equity and health equality has a different meaning. Although many time people consider both as a same but they are really different in meaning and their approach. Health equity is different from health equality, as it refers only to the absence of disparities in remediable or controllable aspects of health. It is not possible to work towards complete equality in health, as there are some factors of health that are beyond human influence. 
Health equity implies that individuals who are unequal should get the different treatment as per their requirement. Whereas according to equality all the individual should be treated equally irrespective of their capabilities and background.

References 

• Anand, S. (2002). The concern for equity in health. Journal of Epidemiology & Community Health, 56(7), 485-487.

• Culyer, A. J., & Wagstaff, A. (1993). Equity and equality in health and healthcare. Journal of health economics, 12(4), 431-457.

• Ruger, J. P. (2004). Health and social justice. Lancet, 364(9439), 1075.

• Braveman, P., & Gruskin, S. (2003). Defining equity in health. Journal of Epidemiology & Community Health, 57(4), 254-258.

• World Health Organization. (2000). the world health report 2000: health systems: improving performance. World Health Organization.

• Whitehead, M. (1991). The concepts and principles of equity and health. Health Promotion International, 6(3), 217-228.